MUSIC: EFG London Jazz Festival

MUSIC: EFG London Jazz Festival

Forget New Orleans, Paris or Copenhagen, for the next 10 days, London is where jazz lives. Oh yeah: we're talking 350 performers swinging, jamming and – who knows? – maybe even scatting around 60 venues in town. From the bluesy and soulful to the wild and experimental, pull on your best turtleneck and get involved. Start off arty on Friday with Basquiat and Jazz, a performance exploring how free jazz influenced rebel artist Jean-Michel Basquiat; get global on Saturday with Afrodub from cult heroes Soothsayers at Rich Mix; then find out the full backstory on Sunday with talks, workshops and a performance by Kansas Smittys at Before Jazz Was Jazz at Two Temple Place. Smokin'.

THEATRE: The Black Cat Cabaret Christmas

THEATRE: The Black Cat Cabaret Christmas

What if we told you that, from this weekend, you can be in two places at once? And further, that those two places are the Leicester Square and Montmartre…? Well, we'd be lying, obviously. That's not physically possible. Although you CAN experience the next best thing from Saturday, when the Black Cat Cabaret brings a slice of the decadent Paris underground right to Leicester Square's Christmas Market. Filling a wood-panelled, 1920s Paradiso spiegeltent with high-kicking showgirls, acrobats, street singers, fire-breathing sirens and daredevil aerialists, it's the nearest to belle-époque Paris your Oyster card will take you. Zut and indeed alors.

MUSIC: EFG London Jazz Festival

Forget New Orleans, Paris or Copenhagen, for the next 10 days, London is where jazz lives. Oh yeah: we're talking 350 performers swinging, jamming and – who knows? – maybe even scatting around 60 venues in town. From the bluesy and soulful to the wild and experimental, pull on your best turtleneck and get involved. Start off arty on Friday with Basquiat and Jazz, a performance exploring how free jazz influenced rebel artist Jean-Michel Basquiat; get global on Saturday with Afrodub from cult heroes Soothsayers at Rich Mix; then find out the full backstory on Sunday with talks, workshops and a performance by Kansas Smittys at Before Jazz Was Jazz at Two Temple Place. Smokin'.

THEATRE: The Black Cat Cabaret Christmas

What if we told you that, from this weekend, you can be in two places at once? And further, that those two places are the Leicester Square and Montmartre…? Well, we'd be lying, obviously. That's not physically possible. Although you CAN experience the next best thing from Saturday, when the Black Cat Cabaret brings a slice of the decadent Paris underground right to Leicester Square's Christmas Market. Filling a wood-panelled, 1920s Paradiso spiegeltent with high-kicking showgirls, acrobats, street singers, fire-breathing sirens and daredevil aerialists, it's the nearest to belle-époque Paris your Oyster card will take you. Zut and indeed alors.

POP-UP: Finnish Rooftop Sauna

Turns out Nelly was right. It IS getting hot in here; so it's probably a good idea to takes off all (well, MOST) of your clothes. Because from this weekend on the roof of the Southbank Centre, you'll find a full-on traditional Finnish sauna, complete with traditional, pine benches, steaming coals and 90C temperatures. There's also showers and changing rooms, Nordic snacks and prosecco at the rooftop bar... and - for the exceptionally brave - buckets of cold water to be doused with when you step out of the sauna. What's the Finnish for 'don't you f***ing dare'?

NIGHTLIFE: Noches Cubanas

We'd like to go to Cuba this weekend. You'd like to go to Cuba this weekend. But – unless you actually happen to be reading this on the way to catch your flight to Jose Marti International – it ain't gonna happen. But the next best thing is right here: for a special one-off edition of Night Thing, the Jazz Cafe will be going Cuban, with DJs spinning hidden salsa treasures, and a live set from René Álvarez's Quintet sure to transport you to the party streets of Havana. Well, that and a load of mojitos, anyway...

POP-UP: Jimmy's Lodge

We used to think that nothing could be better than fondue. It's MELTED CHEESE, for god's sake. But then, THEN we heard that repeat pop-up offender Jimmy Garcia (he of BBQ Club fame) is serving up fondue in… glass igloos. Glass igloos! Right on the Southbank! And not only that, he's also putting on a street food market alongside where you can also enjoy such wonders as raclette burgers and hot cocktails like buttered rum topped with meringue, all under fairy lights and by a riverside fire pit. There is no more scenic way in which destroy your diet.

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